Thursday evening, in the absence of Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni, it was N’Golo Kanté who wore the captain’s armband of the France team against Israel. A rather convincing first for the 2018 world champion. He almost enhanced it with a goal. In the 20th minute, he had a shot on target, diverted at the last minute by the opposing goalkeeper for a corner.
Despite this observation, there are some who are not in favor of him having the armband. This is the case, for example, of Jérôme Rothen. The latter prefers a defender, more robust and more expansive. “ It lacks a leader because there is no strong backbone. Konaté has all the potential to assume this responsibility,” he confided during his show on RMC Sport.
Maignan preferred to Kanté!
Kanté not temperamental enough to take responsibility? This is also the opinion of Jean-Michel Larqué, another former French international. “Today’s captain is a nice boy, impeccable but he is not a Kanté leader. He is a model teammate. It means the poverty and misery that there is in this team“, he confided.
The Greens legend also deplores the fact that Mike Maignan is not the captain. “Are we lacking leaders in the French team? Simply asking the question is answering it. I am not in the privacy of this group. I heard that the only person who could play this role would not suit Deschamps is Maignan. Because he’s a goalkeeper and I hope that’s the only reason.”
